Pneumatic conveyer.



1. D. MURRAY.

PNEUMATIC CO NVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 1916.

1 221 080. Patented Apr. 3,1917. 9 2 SHEETS-SHEET l- F/ J. 4 41 WITNESS IN VEN TOR.

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1. n. MURRAY.

PNEUMATIC CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED was 14. 1M6.

1,221 ,080. Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- FT 51 WITNESS if A. ZVENTOR. wax

A TTORNE Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

:ronnn. MURRAY, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, .ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF r THOMAS SGOBLE, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA;

PNEUMATIC GONVEYER.

Application filed June 14, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. J OHN D. MURRAY, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and Stateveyers, of which the following a specifica tion.

My invention relates to the class ofconveyers in which air or steam pressure is employed to transport the material through conduits, and is particularly applicable for conveying loose materials,'or fluent solids, of any nature, such, for example, as sand.

The object of the invention is to provide means for feeding material of the described character into a conduit in such a manner that it will be readily picked up by the stream of air or steam and carried through said conduit. This I accomplish by the novel mechanism hereinafter fully described andherewith illustrated in its preferred form, itbeing understood that changes may be made in the form and construction of the device without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention may be broadly character'- ized' as an apparatus for feeding fluent solid material into the sphere of action of a cur- 0 rent of gas under pressure, such as air'or steam. In so doing, the material is agitated, to keep it in a loose condition, and is carried, mechanically, in relatively small. charges, into a chamber, from which it is ejected by the gas pressure.

For a more complete comprehension of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying sheets of drawings, Wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. V

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional elevation,

Fig. 3is'atransx erse section of the feed bucket wheehtaken' in the direction of the arrows on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation, enlarged, of the discharge chamber.

, Fig. 5 is a plan detail of the feed hopper and the closing gate therefor.

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional elevation taken in the direction of the arrows on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

, In the drawings, and referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the reference Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. '3, 1917.

Serial No. 103,607.

numeral 51 designates a cylindrical shell or barrel, which for convenience in transporting from place to place is mounted upon a pair of Wheels 2 and a third trailer Wheel 3, the latter being-preferably carried in a swiveled bracket 4:. The barrel 1 has at its forward end. a'portion of enlarged diameter 5, which will be hereinafter referred to as the feed drum.

An aperture 6 is formed in the upper porticn of the wall of the barrel 1 near its rear end, throughwhich the fluent solid material is introduced into said barrel. A pin 7, Fig. 2, projects from said barrel wall adjacent the feed aperture 6, and upon said pin is pivotally mounted a structure comprising a feed hopper 8 and a gate9, it being understood that said structure may be revolved, in a horizontal plane, about said pin. to bring either the feed hopper S or the gate i) above the feed aperturefi; 1

When the feed aperture 6 is closed by means of the gate 9, the latter can be securely clampedand locked in place, as shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 6, by means of a longitudinally disposed rod 10 extending, at one end, freely through a swiveled head 11 carried by the pin 7 and resting, near its other end, m a notched lug 12 projecting from said gate 9. The extended end portion 10 of said rod is adapted to be engaged by a hooke'd'lug 13 mounted on the barrel 1 on the opposite side of the feed aperture 6 from the pin 7. Said rod 10 carries cams 14 adapted to bear against the upper surface of the gate 9, and a handle 15, so that when said rod is engaged by said hook 13, and turned bymeans of said handle into the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the gate 9 will be firmly clamped over the feed aperture 6. A stop 16, projecting from the end of the hopper 8, serves to" correctly locate said hopper over said feed aperture, by engaging the hooked lug 13. r

The rear end of the barrel 1 and the forward end of the feed drum 5 are closed respectively by heads 17 and 18, Figs. 1 and 2, the head 18 having in its lower portion a clean-out opening 19 closed by a removable plate 20. Said heads are provided with central hubs 21, in which is journaled an axially disposed shaft 22. Suitably formed packing glands 23 are provided in said hubs, to prevent the escape of air around said shaft,.and an end thrust bearing 24 is preferably provided at the forward end of said shaft. The rear end 22 of the shaft 22 projects beyond the head 17, and to it may be connected any desired means for causing its rotation, said driving means forming no part of the present invention and, therefore, being omitted from the drawings.

The shaft 22 carries, within the barrel 1, a plurality of radially extending arms 25, upon the ends of which are mounted feed paddles 26, Figs. 2 and 3. Said paddles are angularly inclined, as shown, and formed convex upon their outer edges, to operate in close proximity to the inner surface of the barrel 1. It is also to be noted that said paddles 26 are staggered; that is, they do not form a continuous spiral. By this arrangement of the paddles 26, the material within the barrel is agitated by the rotation of the shaft 22, and advanced comparatively slowly from the rear end of the barrel 1 toward the feed drum 5. The rearmost paddle arm 25 carries a scraper blade 27, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, adapted to remove any material adhering to the rear head 17.

The shaft 22 also carries, at its forward end within the feed drum 5, a feed bucket wheel consisting of an offset solid web 28, Fig. 2, a peripheral rim 29, and a series of radially extended overhanging blades 30 carried by said rim. For additional strength in supporting said blades 30, the rim 29 is built up at the bases of said blades, as shown at 29 in Fig. 3.

The blades 30, as shown in Fig. 2, operate in very close proximity to the interior walls of the feed drum 5, outside the line of the barrel 1. The wall of said barrel is not continued into the feed drum except for a portion of its circumference, shown at 31 in Fig. 3. This extension 31 is carried into the feed drum, lying just inside the overhanging portion of the blades 30 and the rim 29, and extends into close proximity with the web 28. Thus an arcuate or segmental discharge chamber 32 is formed in that portion of the feed drum 5 subtended by the segmental extension 31, through which pass, in rapid succession, the blades 30 of the revolving feed bucket wheel, and it will be readily understood that the fiuent solid material, advanced by the feed paddles 26 from the barrel 1 into the central portion of the feed drum 5, falls into the lower portion of said feed drum, where it is picked up by the blades 30 of the feed bucket wheel, and carried thereby into the discharge chamber 32.

In the front wall of the discharge chamber 32, which wall is formed by a portion of the forward head 18, is an outlet opening 33, Fig. 4, communicating with an ejector, the latter being formed by an outer shell 34 secured to said head 18, and an inner nozzle 35. Said nozzle 35 is supported between an annular shoulder 36 in the outlet opening 33 and a series of radially disposed notched lugs 37 carried by a coupling member 38 bolted to the outer end of the shell 34, so that by the removal of said coupling member 38, said nozzle 35 can be removed for cleaning, without disturbing the shell 34. A pipe 39, in which is a valve 40, Fig. 1, supplies air or steam to the space between said shell 34 and said nozzle 35 from the main supply pipe 41.

A pressure nozzle 42, Fig. 4, extends through the rear wall of the discharge chamber 32 in alinement with the discharge opening 33. A pipe 43, in which is a valve 44, supplies air or steam to said pressure nozzle 42 from the supply pipe 41. Thus by the combined action of the ejector and the pressure nozzle 42, the material within the discharge chamber 32, between the blades 30 of the feed bucket wheel, is removed from said chamber and carried out into the conduit which is understood to be connected with the coupling 38.

If the material to be conveyed be comparatively dry and light, the ejector can be relied upon to furnish the major portion of the propelling force, and only enough air admitted through the pressure nozzle 42 to insure the effective removal of the material from the discharge chamber 32, without causing any material back pressure therein.

If, however, the material be heavy, such, for example, as wet sand, or if it is to be conveyed a considerable distance, then more air must be introduced through the pressure nozzle 42, to insure the effective removal of all the material.

On account of the proximity of the blades 30 of the feed bucket wheel to the peripheral and side walls of the discharge chamber 32, said chamber is effectively closed by said blades 30 during the introduction of each charge of material thereinto. Therefore, if an excess of air be introduced through the pressure nozzle 42 the material within said discharge chamber 32 will not be blown back into the feed drum 5 and the barrel 1, but will all be carried out through the discharge aperture 33.

Thus, it will be seen that the machine operates as a continuous feed conveyer. The feed aperture 6 can either be left open or closed by means of the gate 9 as desired. In the event of stoppage in the conduit, it is only necessary to stop the feed bucket wheel in such a position that two of its blades 30 will close the discharge chamber 32, to admit pressure to said chamber to cause the removal of the stoppage.

I claim 1. A pneumatic conveyer comprising a substantially cylindrical receptacle adapted to contain a quantity of the material to be conveyed, said receptacle having a portion of enlarged diameter at one end thereof; an axially disposed shaft within said receptamaterial from said discharge chamber.

2. A pneumatic conveyer comprising a substantially cylindrical receptacle adapted to contain a quantity of the material to be conveyed, said receptacle having a portion of enlarged diameter at one end thereof; an axiallydisposed shaft within said receptacle; revolving devices carried by said shaft for advancing said material into the enlarged portion of said receptacle; a revolving member, having a series of peripherally disposed overhanging blades, carried by said shaft Within said enlarged portion of the receptacle for conveying said material into a discharge chamber formed in the peripheral region of said enlarged portion of the receptacle by a segmental lineal extension of the wall of said receptacle; and pneumatic pressure means for removing said material from said discharge chamber.

3. A pneumatic conveyer comprising a substantially cylindrical receptacle adapted to contain a quantity of the material to be conveyed, said receptacle having a portion of enlarged diameter at one end forming a feed drum to which the material is delivered from the receptacle; a segmental plate Within said drum, spaced from and concentric with its peripheral wall to form therein an arcuate discharge chamber open at each end to the drum; a revolving series of spaced blades operating within the feed drum and passing through the arcuate discharge chamber, to convey the material in successive charges into said chamber, the space between adjacent blades being less than the length of said chamber, whereby in passingtherethrough, adjacent blades form end walls for the chamber; an outlet connection communicating with said chamber; and pneumatic pressure means for removing the charge from the chamber through said outlet connection.

4. A pneumatic conveyer comprising a substantially cylindrical receptacle adapted to contain a quantity of the material to be conveyed, said receptacle having a portion of enlarged diameter at one end forming a feed drum to which the material is delivered from the receptacle, a segment of said receptacle wall being extended into said drum concentric with the peripheral wall of the drum, to form therein an arcuate discharge chamber open at each end to the drum; a revolving series of spaced blades operating within the feed drum and passing through the arcuate discharge chamber, to convey the material in successive charges into said chamber, the space between adjacent blades being less than the length of said chamber, whereby in passing therethrough, adjacent blades form end walls for the chamber; an outlet connection communicating with said chamber; and pneumatic pressure means for removing the charge from the chamber through said outlet connection.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN D. MURRAY.

Witnesses:

WM. F. BOOTH, D. B. RICHARDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

